


crucify me

by Pomfry



Category: Servamp (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demons, Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, And they handle it in extremely different ways, Confusion, Demon Summoning, Demons and Contracts, Eject me into the fucking S U N, Fae & Fairies, Gen, I have far too much fun with this, Living Together, Magic, Mahiru and Tetsu do not know what they signed up for, Protective Behavior, Summoning Circles, Tetsu is a good cook, The Servamps are rulers of the demon realm, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think, Undecided Relationship(s), Werewolves, you can pry that headcanon from my cold dead hands
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-23 23:52:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14943690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pomfry/pseuds/Pomfry
Summary: Mahiru and Tetsu never intended to summon demons of such high caliber. It just sort of - happened.  What happens after will follow them for the rest of their lives.Literally.(In which Mahiru and Tetsu summon demons, Sakuya has his hands full with other, more annoying demons, Koyuki and Ryuusei are far too tired to deal with this shit, and nobody knows what is going on at any given point in time. Well, except maybe Hugh, but he only knows what's going on with Tetsu. Everyone else is left to drown.)





	1. And so it starts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BurningBehindMyEyes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurningBehindMyEyes/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY BURNINGBEHINDMYEYES!
> 
> The next chapter will hopefully be out in a few days, but we shall see!

The first - and only - time Tetsu fully summons a demon, he’s thirteen. The teacher is giving a speech about how important it is for the circle not to break, about how you have to say the first thing to come to mind, about -

 

Tetsu stopped listening after the first five minutes.

 

He only got into this school - meant for summoners, magic practitioners, and combat style warlocks - because he had a high magic level. He isn’t smart enough to get into it, certainly isn’t meant for the studying magic requires. But his innate magic is what got their attention. He could manipulate water, bend it to his will. He could talk to animals, move things around with the slightest effort. He was branded a hazard, forced to come here to learn to control his magic.

 

If Tetsu had his way, he would be at home in his hot springs.

 

The girl in front of him claps her hands together, the paper with the basic summoning circle on it between her fingers, and mutters something. It sounds long and poetic, and twin foxes burst out of the paper, three-tailed and huge.

 

That’s impressive, Tetsu notices absently, and steps forward. He doesn’t think this will work, but the faculty seems intent that it does. They say that there hasn’t been someone with this much raw magical power in years, and want him to be the best he possibly could.

 

His best, if Tetsu is asked, is being at home and helping his dad with the family hot springs, but nobody ever asks him. It's… irritating, and Tetsu doesn't find a lot upsetting.

 

“Please come here, o’ small, dark one,” he mutters half-heartedly, throwing his magic into that tiny slip of paper, and -

 

The room fills with smoke, the chirps and clicks of bats surrounding them, and Tetsu is in the middle of it all, staring at the hand that forces the darkness apart. The teacher is yelling at him to stop the summoning, screaming that this demon is too powerful, but -

 

But that hand is so small, and Tetsu reaches out, grabs it. He has a younger cousin, and he can’t let a child - demon or not - stay there, grasping at nothing.

 

He grabs the tear in the smoke, and pulls it to the left with as much strength as he can muster as he helps the kid out, and all of a sudden the smoke is gone, the bats disappearing, and the only thing remaining is a child holding Tetsu’s hand, his eyes glowing a dangerous red.

 

“Are you the one who called me here?” he asks, his voice high pitched and sweet.

 

“I am,” Tetsu confirms. Everyone is quiet, hushed. Even the teacher is, but Tetsu doesn’t understand why they’re so afraid. The child has a black cloak that swallows him whole, hair slicked back and a monocle resting on his nose. A large white bow rests on his chest, and Tetsu finds himself thinking that it’s unbearably cute.

 

“Why?”

 

“Because that was the exercise for today.” Tetsu kneels down, smiling. “Who are you?”

 

The child smiles, sharp and deadly. “I am Old Child,” he says. “The demon of pride.”

 

The teacher lets out a strangled noise.

 

“Oh.” Tetsu blinks, feels a little unmoored. He didn’t expect that. “Good for you.”

 

Old Child brings Tetsu’s wrist to his nose and sniffs, closing his eyes. When he opens them again, he’s grinning, sharp teeth pressing into his bottom lip and dimples in his cheeks.

  
“You’ll do wonderfully,” he purrs. “Now give me a name.”

 

“Why should I name you?” Tetsu questions, a bit confused. “Shouldn’t you be able to name yourself?”

 

Old Child bursts out cackling, the sound of it like nails on a chalkboard. Everyone but Tetsu flinches. “Oh, I  _ like _ you. Fine. My name is Hugh the Dark Algernon the Third. Say that back to me, and our temporary contract is sealed.”

 

“Your name is Hugh the Dark Algernon the Third,” Tetsu repeats, and with a flash of blue light, the paper crumbles to dust in his hand.

 

Old Child smiles, sweet as cyanide. “Nice to meet you, contractor.”

 

“Nice to meet you too.”

 

The teacher chokes.

 

\--

 

By the time Tetsu makes it back to his room, everyone knows he somehow summoned the second most powerful demon who ever lived.

 

Tetsu, having spent all day with Hugh, thinks that they’re all exaggerating. Hugh is amazing.

 

“This is my room,” Tetsu says as he opens the door. It’s minimalistic, and sometimes Tetsu misses his old room, full of posters and nostalgia, but he doesn’t mind this either.

 

Hugh hopes from his shoulder, takes a look around, and tsks. “This won’t do,” he mutters. “This won’t do at all. No personality, none whatsoever.”

 

“Hugh?” Tetsu sets his jacket down on the table. “You okay?”

 

Hugh whirls around, his cloak settling on the ground with an unnatural grace. “No! My contractor has nothing to be proud of!”

 

“I am proud of some things,” Tetsu objects, slightly offended. ‘I’m proud of my hot springs!”

 

“Tetsu, my eve, you have no pride in yourself!” Hugh exclaims, and Tetsu pauses at that. He - well, he doesn’t. He never had much reason to be, after all. He wasn’t very smart, especially compared to his sisters, who were all well on their way to becoming magic theorists. He likes his calligraphy, but he admits he could be way better at it. The most he could say of being proud of is maybe summoning Hugh, but even then he views that as a lucky break.

 

“I...guess you’re right,” he says slowly, a little baffled at how he never noticed that before. Hugh makes his way over, pats his knee. 

 

“It’s okay,” he assures. “There’s nothing wrong with being modest, but - having such low self esteem that you don’t have any pride in your accomplishments is bad, Tetsu Sendagaya. I will fix that.” He grins. “Just leave it to me!”

 

Tetsu nods slowly, haltingly, and makes his way over to the kitchen just as Hugh’s clothes melt into darkness then converge upon himself again. When he turns around, he’s wearing a tall top hat, a snazzy suit, and a cape that goes down to his heels. Tetsu blinks. “Nice outfit.”

 

Hugh beams. “Thank you!” he chirps. “My siblings don’t understand fashion - besides Lawless, that is - so it’s been quite a while since I got compliments on my outfit.”

 

“That’s stupid.” Tetsu pulls down some ingredients. Steak sounds good tonight. “People should compliment you regardless of whether or not they understand it. I don’t, and I think you look great.”

 

Hugh laughs, bubbly and happy, landing on his head as a bat. “You’re a good eve, I can just tell.”

 

Tetsu flushes happily, biting back the smile that threatens to come. “What is an eve, anyway?”

 

“Rare for me,” Hugh says, then continues as Tetsu nods. “An eve is a contractor, but it’s a term only used by my siblings and myself. We represent the seven deadly sins, and Eve is the one who took a bite of the apple and did the first sin. It makes sense.”

 

Tetsu flips the steak, works on the mashed potatoes as he thinks. “It does,” he agrees. “You said temporary contract earlier.”

 

“Oh, yes." The bat leans down, nips Tetsu’s skin, and watches as a drop of blood well up. He licks it as Tetsu goes cross-eyed trying to see what he’s doing, and the sudden weight of a five year old makes Tetsu go off balance.

 

He stumbles backward, yelping, and there’s this wall that he hits. When he looks behind him, Hugh’s cape has stretched, darkened even further, and turned stiff. He pokes it curiously as Hugh crosses his arms over his head, a bemused air around him.

 

“Woah,” Tetsu breathes, a little amazed. He knew that Hugh was powerful - how could he not when the way he arrived was proof enough of it - but he didn’t know that he could do that. “That’s so cool.”

 

Hugh chuckles, pulls on his hair. “Thank you,” he replies. “It’s something all of my siblings can do.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Really really.” Hugh shifts so he’s only on one shoulder. “But now our contract is permanent, only to break if you die or something equally unlikely happens.”

 

Tetsu gives him an odd look. “Why is me dying unlikely?”

 

Hugh’s smile is all teeth. “Because you're my eve now. And Pride is notorious for being protective.”

 

Tetsu thinks that a rather good thing to be, and says so.

 

Hugh cackles, slipping down and landing on the floor gracefully. “I’m glad you think so,” he says, gleeful. “Since that’s going to be your life from now on.”

 

Tetsu should probably be afraid, be wary, but -

 

But Hugh is so nice - nicer than the rest of his peers, really - and he’s missed having someone with him. Back home, there was always background noise, always someone there. Here...there isn’t. Tetsu hasn’t been coping well with the silence.

 

“Okay,” he says, and puts the steak on the plate. Hugh makes a delighted sound, slips down to the floor, and sits down in the chair, nearly jumping in his seat.

 

“It’s been forever since I’ve had human food,” Hugh says excitedly, thumping his hands on the table. Tetsu smiles, puts some mashed potatoes and peas next to the steak, and sets it on the table. Hugh sends him the biggest grin he’s seen on him all day, and Tetsu smiles back as he puts another steak in the pan.

 

He doesn't think Hugh has had a lot of human food in the last few years, and he's always been told he's a good cook. Forever for Hugh could be months, days, or even centuries. He thinks that he's going to be cooking a lot more in the next decades or however as long as the contract holds.

 

“What do you want for dinner tomorrow?” he asks, humming, and Hugh stops cold, the fork stuck in the steak.

 

“You’re...actually asking me,” he says slowly, and Tetsu nods, a little bewildered. Hugh is going to be his roommate and he isn’t capable of cooking. Why would he not ask?

 

He says as such, and Hugh laughs roughly. The sound of it is weird. It’s like he hasn’t laughed in years. 

 

Tetsu doesn’t really like that laugh.

 

“You’re an odd one, Tetsu,” Hugh tells him, a little fond, a little wry.

 

“I don’t mind being that,” Tetsu replies, smiling slightly.

 

“I know you don’t.” Hugh sighs, sets his silverware down. “But I’m afraid you don’t know what being my eve truly entails.”

 

Tetsu wrinkles his nose at the words. “What is there to know? You’re my demon, I’m your contractor, and we’re roommates. Sounds simple to me.”

 

Hugh sends him a grin. “That’s what I like to hear.”

 

Tetsu doesn’t even try to hide the glow of pride that gives him. Maybe they’re more suited for each other than they thought, he muses as he flips the steak over. 

 

Hugh is the king of pride. It’s his domain to command, to manipulate, but Tetsu doesn’t think he’s used its sway over him. Hugh isn’t like that. He wants Tetsu to find pride in himself, first and foremost, and Tetsu may not have known him long, but he knows that kind of pride is, in Hugh’s opinion, is the one that is needed to be found personally.

 

He just hopes he’ll be able to find it before Hugh makes it for him.

 

\--

 

The next morning, Tetsu wakes up to Hugh snoring on his shoulder, his alarm clock destroyed across the room, and the startling revelation that he is late for class.

 

“Oh no.”

 

“What?” Hugh mumbles, burying his face into Tetsu’s nightshirt.

 

“I’m late for summoner’s class.”

 

Hugh snorts. “Who cares? I can teach more and better. From what you told me last night, they don’t explain it in a way that you understand.”

 

“They don’t,” Tetsu agrees. “But they’re also charging my family for this, and I don’t want it them do it for no reason.”

 

Hugh narrows his eyes. “Didn’t you say that they’re forcing you to come here?”

 

“Yeah.” Tetsu shrugs and gets up, grabbing his only other school uniform. “But I think it’s for a reason. Apparently, my magic is too strong for me not to be a person who uses magic.”

 

Hugh scowls, crossing his arms. “Well  _ they,”  _ he snaps, “tore you from your home and are making you do things you don’t want to do. I know that you have a tremendous amount of magic - it’s what drew me to you in the first place - but that doesn’t excuse it.”

 

Tetsu can feel his cheeks warming up as he bustles around, trying to get his tie to cooperate as he attempts to find his shoes. “Well,” he mutters. “That’s the thing. I can’t do anything about it since I’m thirteen.”

 

Hugh’s smile grows sharp, grows threatening, yet Tetsu feels as though he’s not the one who should watch his back. “That,” he says cheerfully, “is where I come in. I know All of Love is here - he hasn’t been back in at least a century - but I’m stronger than him by at least half.”

 

Tetsu blinks. “All of Love?”

 

Hugh waves dismissively. “My brother, the demon of lust. He’s the youngest, and thus the least powerful.” Hugh sighs, a little wistful. “I miss him sometimes.”

 

“Then why don’t we find him,” Tetsu finds himself saying and spots his shoes by the table, “so you could see him?”

 

Hugh startles, gives him a glance. “You...would do that for me,” he says slowly, something like awe in his gaze.

 

“Sure.” Tetsu gives up on the tie and pulls on his shoes. “I mean, I’m pretty sure you would do that for me if I missed my sisters. So why wouldn’t I do it?”

 

Hugh barks out a laugh, surprised and amazed. “You never fail to surprise, you humans.” He gets off the bed, motioning for Tetsu to lean down. Tetsu does so and Hugh starts to deftly knot it.  “But I think I know where he is. There is absolutely a zero possibility that his eve wouldn’t have gone here at least once, so there should be records of it. After all, it’s not every day a demon of my level is summoned.”

 

Tetsu tilts his head. “Why?” It had been relatively easy for him. He’d just - pushed his magic into the circle, and Hugh had reached back. Simple.

 

Hugh scoffs. “Tetsu, my eve, you have vast amounts of magic. It  _ would  _ be easy for you. For anyone else, with normal reserves of magic mind, it would not be so effortless. If they tried to summon me their magic would be drained beyond saving, and they would inevitably die. You on the other hand -” he pushes the knot up to the base of Tetsu’s throat - “have enough magic to do it without suffering the consequences.”

 

“I’d say that you would be a consequence,” Tetsu says, a little absently. “A good one, though.”

 

Hugh’s hands stutter in their fluid motions, and suddenly there’s a bat flying up to land in Tetsu’s hair. Tetsu smiles, grabs his jacket, and heads out the door. Hugh reminds him to lock his door, and when he does that he’s holding a five year old again, his arm curling automatically around his demon’s back. Hugh rests his head on his shoulder, and Tetsu complacently makes his way down to the classroom.

 

Everyone stares. They recognize Hugh from the pictures, from yesterday. They stare and Hugh stares back, red eyes unnerving and frighteningly quiet. Tetsu merely gives him a blank look before hurrying down to the summoner’s classroom.

 

They’re summoning again, this time with a different circle, and when the teacher sees him he waves him into line, paling a bit at the sight of Hugh.

 

(Tetsu still doesn’t get why they’re so scared of him. He knows that if he really wanted to, he could control the tiny demon, but, well, he doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to take that right, that liberty. But Hugh is so nice, so patient, that he’s baffled.)

 

Hugh is tellingly silent when he steps up to grab a circle. He doesn’t like this. He doesn’t like that Tetsu is trying to summon another demon. He doesn’t like it -

 

“Bring me,” Tetsu says, his magic rising like the tide, “the one who lurks in the shadows and protects.”

 

Hugh disappears from his shoulders, appearing before him with a staff out, pushing back another demon. It persists, moving forward, but Hugh growls, flips the staff, and stabs the demon in the eye with the blade that protrudes from one end.

 

The demon makes a wounded noise, retreats back into the small crack in the wall. Hugh turns back to him, exasperated and with his teeth still too large and too many, and tells him, “You are a trouble magnet.”

 

Tetsu gives a helpless shrug. He didn’t used to be. He used to be normal. Then his magic got noticed, and his life went sideways. “Sorry.”

 

“No, don’t apologize.” Hugh rubs at his temples. “It’s your teacher’s fault for not having wards that  _ keep the higher ranking demons out.” _ He sends a venomous look at the teacher - what was his name again - and holds up his arms. Tetsu picks him up obligingly and when Hugh points to the door, he doesn’t hesitate to follow the wordless command.

 

“You need to learn how to summon a weapon,” Hugh announces as soon as they’re in the hallway. “My kind of weapon.”

 

Tetsu did notice that his staff was glowing a dark blue, which is unusual considering most weapons are made by human hands. “What does it do?”

 

“Depends on what you get.” Hugh shrugs. “It varies from person to person. For example, you may get gloves. It would amplify your punches’ power while also having an ability of its own.”

 

Tetsu nods. That seems relatively easy to understand. “So how do I summon it?”

 

“You,” Hugh says as he leaps down from his shoulder, landing lightly on the floor, “need to summon my chain.”

 

“How do I -”

 

Hugh bites down on his wrist.

 

Light explodes, knocking Tetsu off his feet, but when he gets up there’s a coffin standing high and mighty in the middle of the hallway, blue rippling around it.

 

“What…”

 

Hugh’s smile is completely devious and entirely too gleeful. “Well, now that’s something.” He lays a hand on the coffin, looking at it critically. “It's a powerful Lead. Good job.”

 

“What does it do?” Tetsu gets to his feet, walking over. He'd been blown five feet away, which was really impressive if he thought about it.

 

“Not sure,” Hugh says absently, poking at the coffin. “Like I said, the Lead varies from person to person, so I’ve never seen this one before.” He latches onto Tetsu’s pant leg when he comes close, resting his cheek on his calf. “But it will be fun to see.”

 

Tetsu wraps a hand around the coffin, lifts it up with a grunt. It settles on his shoulder easily, like it was made to fit there, and Hugh smothers an enthusiastic grin.

 

“Powerful Lead,” he repeats, slightly manic, and Tetsu rests a hand on his hat. “Tetsu, we will be  _ amazing.” _

 

“When are you not?” Tetsu questions, and Hugh barks out a laugh.

 

“Flatterer.” He pats Tetsu’s knee. “Now let's go back inside to that deplorable class and get this done already.”

 

Tetsu sighs, a little let down. He doesn’t really want to go back. They’re just going to stare, fully aware of just how powerful he is now. Before, they all knew he had a lot of magic - his grades were just that terrible that everyone knew - so much so that he was made to come here, but they didn’t know just how  _ much. _

 

He’d managed to summon an extremely powerful demon, one who tore the air when he arrived, and didn’t so much as waver on his feet.

 

That counts as powerful in a magician’s book.

 

Hugh drums his fingers on Tetsu’s leg, sending him a small smile. “Listen, we’ll be fine. Besides, we can practice with the Lead later.”

 

Tetsu’s smile is slow to return, but Hugh beams as though he’d just given him a chest full of gold. “Besides, we can always prank them later!”

 

Tetsu laughs, the sound of it warm and unfolding like a flower blooming, and Hugh cackles along with him as he opens the door.

 

His classmates seem vaguely terrified, and eye the coffin. Tetsu shuffles a little on his feet, suddenly sheepish. Hugh glares at them all. 

 

“Don’t you have class to return to?” he asks, cold as frost, and they all jerk at his voice, as though shocked that he’s able to talk. Tetsu frowns at that; Hugh is as much as a person as the next, and Tetsu may or may not fight anyone who says otherwise.

 

“I - right.” The teacher turns back to the class, demonstrating summoning his own demon familiar, which was a small drake that curls around his shoulders. Tetsu sits in the back of the room, sets Hugh in his lap as he rests his elbow on the desk, cheek in his palm.

 

The explanations are going straight over his head, as per usual, and he pulls out his notebook. He‘s part of the calligraphy club, which surprises anyone who doesn’t know him. He doesn’t know why, though. Anyone can tell he likes it just judging by his handwriting.

 

He’s been told that his penmanship is too girly, too pretty - mostly by people who have no business telling him these things. He’s learned, though many, many years of hearing that his interests are too weird. Simple. Tetsu likes simple.

 

Hugh watches him write his name over and over again in more elaborate ways with the kind of interest a person can’t fake. “You know, you’re rather good at this,” he says, placing a hand on the paper. Tetsu blinks, looks down at him.

 

“Really?” he asks hesitantly, because he doesn’t think Hugh is messing with him but what  _ if - _

 

“Yes.” Hugh plucks the pen from his fingers, writing Old Child. The words are pretty in a way Tetsu can never manage, effortless beauty. “Mine is only this good because I have my slice of the realm set up as a monarchy. All of the demons within it are safe, and they have homes. I’ve gotten rather good at making my handwriting pretty in an attempt of making their days harder.” His face shades towards amused. “I do hate paperwork.”

 

“So mine is - good?”

 

_ “Yes,” _ Hugh says, slightly exasperated. “Tetsu, it’s better than most of my siblings and that’s saying something considering Lawless loves to write plays. With  _ feather,  _ like we’re still in the 1700s.” He scoffs. “In  _ England. _ ”

 

Tetsu snorts at the image it brings. Another little boy, huddled over a desk with a ink pot and feather pen in hand, scribbling frantically. It’s kind of adorable. “Sounds like a weird guy.”

 

“He  _ is,” _ Hugh agrees vehemently. “So weird and so - “ He cuts himself off, lips pursing. “Well, if you’re lucky you won’t meet him. He’s not as possessive of his eves as I am.”

 

“That doesn’t sound good,” Tetsu says, fiddling with the pen in his hand. “What do you mean?”

 

“I mean that he deliberately puts his eves in danger,” Hugh replies, hands clenching in the fabric of his pants. “I mean that after a eve’s death, he - he broke. And I couldn’t do damn thing.  _ I’m  _ the older brother. I’m supposed to help him -”

 

A tear drops onto his palm, and he wipes it away angrily as he takes a shaking breath. “It means,” he says, careful and slow, “that you will never meet him. Not if I have anything to say about it.”

 

“Which you do,” Tetsu says, smiling slightly in an attempt to calm his demon down.

 

“Which I do,” Hugh concedes. “But - anyway. Your handwriting is wonderful for your age.”

 

Silence reigns, full of tension. Tetsu coughs in the aftermath, gathering Hugh to his chest and hugging him gently. “You know,” he murmurs, saying the words Hugh had told him not even ten minutes ago, “I think you’re wonderful.”

 

Hugh snorts, bursts out laughing. “Of course you do,” he snickers, and Tetsu would feel offended but - he’s too glad that he’s laughing, smiling.

 

So he picks up the pen again and writes Hugh’s name on the paper, the words flowing from his fingers. Gold ink speckled with magic writes out Hugh the Dark Algernon the Third and Hugh gasps, delighted. The coffin looks like a normal coffin now, instead of the otherworldly object it was when they first summoned it, and when Tetsu rests a hand against it he can feel the sheer power it contains inside it. Hugh was right. They will be amazing.

 

“Sendagaya,” his teacher snaps, and Tetsu blinks, looks up at him. His lips are turned down into a frown, his skin pale in fear, and Hugh raises a brow at him. “Pay attention to the lesson.”

 

“Oh. Sorry.” Tetsu puts the pen down, focusing on the board. Predictably none of it makes sense to him, but that is the norm. “What were we talking about?”

 

The teacher throws him a nasty look that Hugh gives right back, his knuckles white on the desk. “We were speaking,” he says sharply, “Of how to safely summon a demon without summoning a powerful one you were not prepared for.” He pauses. “Something that after yesterday, I feel we need to cover.”

 

Tetsu nods, because, yeah, that seems like a good idea. If someone other than him summoned someone of Hugh’s power, they would likely die. Tetsu only survived because of the sheer amount of magic he has. It’s a sound lesson, and he settles in to watch. He doubts that he will need to actually summon anything against - the most likely solution is that Hugh will smack him in the stomach before he even starts.

  
\--  
  


Mahiru would like to state that this whole thing is Sakuya’s fault. He was the one who convinced Koyuki to go along with it, saying that it’s not like they had enough magic to summon a demon anyway,  _ so why not try it? What could go wrong? _

 

Many things could go wrong, as they found out. 

 

But since Koyuki was in on it, so was Ryuusei, and because Ryuusei was down for it, Mahiru really had no choice but to go along with it.

 

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Koyuki asks, shoulders tense. Ryuusei rubs his shoulder, and Sakuya grins, that two tailed fox he always has with him chittering.

 

“Absolutely,” he says cheerfully. “Listen, the most we could do is summon a low level cat demon. Nothing harmful or anything - we all know those are just like normal cats.”

 

“Except their claws are like steel,” Mahiru says sarcastically, crossing his arms. “And they could kill us.”

 

Sakuya waves a hand dismissively. “Eh, so could a car. The  _ point is,  _ is that we can totally summon a demon.”

 

Mahiru has some magic, just enough that he can move some objects, just enough that he could summon a medium level demon. Not enough for anyone to really take notice, and that’s how he likes it. Simple things are practically nonexistent in the world of magic, so he hides it. Moves some just enough that he can use his magic in public.

 

Koyuki, he knows, is a fae. He was switched at birth, and being raised with kind hearted parents made him unlike the rest of his kind. He has magic - real magic, the kind that lives in the trees and the land - but he rarely uses it, preferring to do things by hand. Ryuusei is a werewolf, although he’s nothing like the propaganda people spread twenty years ago. He just likes to play soccer and shows up at Koyuki or Mahiru’s house on the full moon, hungry for some rare meat.

 

Transforming takes a lot of energy.

 

Sakuya, though - Mahiru doesn’t know what he is. He always has the fox with him, and he’s never said whether or not he’s Sakuya’s familiar. He never explained his magic level, never exposed it. Mahiru doesn’t care, though. Sakuya is Sakuya, and maybe he doesn’t want to go to a magic school, doesn’t want to be forced into it.

 

By law, anyone with magic over a certain limit is required to go to a magic school to learn how to use it. Mahiru calls bullshit on that, because he learned how to do magic just fine. But maybe people with larger stores of magic have a harder time. He doesn’t know.

 

The two tailed fox jumps from Sakuya’s shoulder, chitters at them, and curls up into a ball, tails slowly waving in the air. Koyuki smiles, waves a hand, and soft grass grows beneath black paws. He purrs at Koyuki, glares at Ryuusei - he doesn’t like Ryuusei since he’s dating Koyuki - and closes his eyes.

 

“Mahiru.” Sakuya focuses on him. “We need you to do this. Koyuki can’t do it because his magic isn’t compatible, and Ryuusei is a werewolf. So you need to do this.”

 

Mahiru sighs, reaching for the paper Sakuya had printed the circle on. “Are you sure you can’t do it?”

 

Sakuya motions a little helplessly towards the fox. “He wouldn’t like it.”

 

That’s true. The fox is highly territorial, likely to snap his teeth at someone who so much as looks at Sakuya wrong, and Mahiru pities anyone who does mess with Sakuya.

 

“Fine, fine.” Mahiru claps his hands together, closing his eyes. His magic whirls inside him, rising to the challenge, and he directs it towards the circle. The black ink glows so brightly he can see it through his eyelids, and Mahiru murmurs something he doesn’t remember the next moment.

 

All of his magic is sucked dry, and he collapses just as a cat appears before them, his expression interested.

 

Koyuki makes a distressed noise, getting to his knees and beginning to heal him, green light flickering between his fingers. Ryuusei narrows his eyes at the cat, who merely watches him in return. 

 

The fox is on his feet within moments, hissing at the cat with unusual viciousness. The cat’s tail flicks through the air before it yawns, lays down, and falls asleep.

 

The world is blurring. His magic is too low, gone too fast, and Mahiru can’t breathe. He summoned a demon, but - summoning a low level demon shouldn’t have done this.

 

Koyuki is swearing, Sakuya is holding his hand and pleading with him not to leave, and Ryuusei is positioned in front of them, growing deep in his chest at the summon that doesn’t make sense.

 

His chest is burning, his vision blacking out. He leans into Koyuki's side, lightheaded and terrified. He’s going to die doing something stupid, he thinks, and gasps for air that won’t come.

 

Sakuya’s in tears, bending down until his forehead is on his leg, and sobs, apologizes for something that wasn’t his fault.

 

Ryuusei can’t take it anymore. He grabs the demon, damn the consequences, and snaps, “Can you help him?”

 

The cat finally looks at them, at Mahiru dying, and his eyes widen. He takes a step, and with a poof of smoke Mahiru’s in a man’s grasp, one arm under his knees and the other around his back. Blue light flares, and suddenly Mahiru can breathe again. He presses his face into the man’s shoulder, shaking so badly it’s like he’s stuck in a winter wasteland.

 

The man cups a hand around his head and walks away, gently shushing him. Sakuya shouts, Koyuki leaps to his feet and shouts something that’s not human, but the thorns that grow in front of the man - the demon, Mahiru’s mind correctly hazily - but it hardly stops him. Indeed, he kicks through it, and Mahiru should be terrified, should be trying to get away, but -

 

But he’s so warm. And the man is protecting him, that magic still steadily transferring, and Mahiru turns his head to look at him.

 

He has pale blue hair, red eyes. The look on his face is dead, the bags under his eyes excessive.

 

Mahiru doesn’t like the fact that he looks like a corpse, like he doesn’t care about anything. He doesn’t like it, and as soon as he can speak, he talks to him, tries to draw some emotions out of him.

 

“Do you have a name?” he asks, his voice thin.

 

The man pauses. “Sleepy Ash,” he offers, and it’s drawling, almost lazy in its tone. “Or Silent Demise.”

 

Mahiru frowns. “Those aren’t good names. I think I’ll call you Kuro.”

 

Kuro freezes the moment bands of light wrap around his neck and Mahiru’s wrist. “Now you’ve done it,” he grouses, shifting Mahiru higher. “Now I’m stuck with you for twenty four hours.” 

 

Mahiru thumps his head down on the shoulder again. “Dammit,” he hisses, and the man snorts. “Sorry, I didn't mean to do that.”

 

“I know you didn't,” he says graciously, and stops at an intersection. “Where's your house?”

 

“13A Sero street,” Mahiru says automatically, over a decade of repeating the address kicking in. “Take a right at the corner store named  _ Kick’s  _ and take a left.”

 

Kuro is warm, Mahiru notices sleepily. And his jacket is a good headrest.

 

The magic sharing has to be the reason for why he’s so tired. It's the only explanation.

 

Kuro scoffs as they make a turn. “It’s not the magic,” he says dully. “It’s the adrenaline leaving your body after the near death experience. You have the average amount of magic, so summoning me took every last drop and then some.”

 

“How powerful are you?” Mahiru wonders, and Kuro hesitates. “I don’t understand how I summoned you. The most I could summon was a cat demon.”

 

Kuro clears his throat. “You ever heard of the tale of siblings?”

 

“Of course,” Mahiru replies, eyes drifting shut. “Everyone does. It’s a bedtime tale.”

 

The story goes that there was once an absolute king of the realm of demons. He had seven children, the oldest more powerful than the rest, and so on and so forth. One day, for reasons no one knows, the eldest killed the king and divided the kingdom among his siblings. Nobody ever heard or saw the eldest again.

 

“That’s just a legend though.”

 

“I’m one of those siblings.”

 

Silence reigns between them, the only sound late night cars. Then, Mahiru croaks out, “What?”

 

“I’m one of the siblings,” Kuro repeats like it’s no big deal. Which it  _ kinda freaking is. _

 

“How in the  _ hell  _ did I summon you?” Mahiru yells as they go into the apartment building. “That's got to take an  _ insane amount of magic  _ that I  _ sure as hell don’t have.” _

 

Kuro shrugs a little helplessly. “You called out for someone, and someone answered. It just - wasn’t someone nice. So I stopped them and ended up falling through.”

 

Holy  _ fucking shit,  _ Mahiru had summoned a  _ sibling. _

 

_ What is even his life now. _

 

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Kuro says, a little uncomfortable. “Someone with enough magic could summon any of us.”

 

“Yes, but I am a normal person! Summoning you nearly killed me,” Mahiru corrects as he slides to the ground, fishing around in his pockets for his keys. His vision spots and before he knows it he’s dry heaving, Kuro rubbing his back and taking the keys. He unlocks the door, gently shuffles Mahiru in, and sits him down on the couch.

 

“To be fair,” Kuro says as he wraps a blanket around Mahiru’s shoulders and sits beside him, “nobody’s summoned me before. You’re the first.”

 

Mahiru giggles a little hysterically at that. He’s the first to summon Kuro. That’s - exciting.

 

This is not simple in the  _ least.  _ His magic reserves feel bigger than they did an hour ago, he has a sibling sharing his magic with him, and he’s about to fall asleep on said sibling.

 

This is not simple. He somehow doesn’t hate it.

 

“Hey, if you’re going to fall asleep on me then go to your own bed,” Kuro mutters without any heat, and Mahiru wrinkles his nose at the thought of moving. Yeah, no. He shows his displeasure by smacking Kuro on the arm. “So violent.”

 

“I’m the one who summoned you,” Mahiru retorts drowsily. “So shush.”

 

“Never gonna happen.” Kuo hums, that light blue aura spreading down his arm to cover Mahiru. It’s warm, calming. Mahiru finds himself leaning even more into Kuro’s side, which earns him a groan that he promptly ignores.

 

Kuro is comfortable.

 

“Whatever. Fall asleep on me, I don’t care.”

 

Mahiru doesn’t hear his complaint because he’s already soundly passed out.

 

\--

 

Sakuya is damn near panicking by the time he gets home. Tsubaki huffs and jumps off his shoulder, two sandaled feet hitting the floor instead of four paws.

 

“Oh my god, that was Sleepy Ash,” Sakuya wheezes, leaning on the demon for support. “Oh my god.”

 

“That it was,” Tsubaki hums, wrapping his arms around him and starting to rock from side to side. “That it was. He didn’t recognize me, though.”

 

“He’s never even met you,” Sakuya replies waspishly, but rests his forehead on Tsubaki’s chest nonetheless, taking deep breaths to calm down. “But, y’know, he could if you just went up to him instead of being dramatic.”

 

“Sensei made me to -”

 

“Yeah, and from what you’ve told me that guy’s a bitch. So. Who’s going to win this argument here.”

 

Tsubaki falls silent. Sakuya usually wins arguments. And the original plan of destroying all of their lives is something that Sakuya has never approved of

 

“Maybe I could introduce myself,” he says finally, and Sakuya nods firmly.

 

“Good,” Sakuya agrees demurely.

 

“You know that I hate you, right?’

 

“I hate you more.”

 

That’s not true. They adore each other. When Sakuya was six and his sister twelve, Tsubaki showed up. He stayed and he helped. He became a friend, a confidant, and when Sakuya’s sister died, Tsubaki took him in.

 

They don’t hate each other. Farthest thing from it. They just say they do.

 

“I’m going to bed,” Sakuya finally says when the embrace has gone on for too long. “Good night.”

 

“It’s not even night!” Tsubaki calls after him. “Besides, the rest are visiting tomorrow!”

 

Sakuya’s answering middle finger and a shout of  _ fuck Belkia! _ is enough to make him laugh as he settles onto the couch, slipping his feet out of his geta as he swings his legs over the arm cushion. “Sakuya has really grown into himself, huh?” he asks himself, and smiles as he lays an arm over his eyes. When they first met, Sakuya was a little boy with a flyaway curl and hiding behind his older sister’s legs.

 

When they first met, a lot of things were different.

 

Tsubaki sighs, resting his other arm on his forehead. Sakuya is so different from that tiny six year old, yet so similar, but there’s this - emptiness in his eyes. Tsubaki takes those who have been broken, cast away and forgotten and gives them a home, but Sakuya - Sakuya is a special case. He’s never really gotten better, never gotten over his sister’s death. Tsubaki doesn’t expect him too. It would hypocritical of him to the extreme. But - he’s worried. He’s worried and scared and he doesn’t want to fail Sakuya, doesn’t want to lose him to that darkness. So he’d stayed with him, and he likely will until Sakuya dies.

 

Tsubaki doesn’t want that either.

 

“Mahiru is a good influence,” he muses, and wriggles his toes. Ever since Sakuya started that school and befriended Mahiru, he’s been better. More open and less quiet. It reminds Tsubaki of that little seven year old who came home and crashed into him with a shout of joy.

 

He smiles, chuckles a little. He never expected Mahiru to summon Sleepy Ash, never expected to be face to face with him so suddenly. From what Tsubaki’s seen, Mahiru has an average amount of magic that could grow if he did more with his body to strengthen his lifeforce.

 

Or, maybe, like Tsubaki did with Sakuya, one of Tsubaki’s siblings shared their magic with his ancestors.

 

Maybe, maybe. It was all before Tsubaki’s time anyway. He’d spent centuries wandering the demon realm, gathering followers and demons he’d saved. He never paid attention to the doings of his siblings, too caught up in his plannings, in his scheming.

 

Sensei had told him that he  _ must _ kill his siblings, told him that it’s the only way for him to come back. And for the longest time, Tsubaki had believed him, trusted him,  _ wanted  _ that.

 

Now...he isn’t so sure.

 

It’s been thousands of years since Sensei’s death. Tsubaki can barely remember his laugh. He’s built a life here, built a family. He doesn’t want to give it up. He knows that Sensei will laugh and take over, not give him a chance to leave when he returns. He knows deep in his bones, but -

 

But Sakuya. But Belkia and Higan and Otogiri. But his subclass, those under his protection. He doesn’t want them to face Sensei, doesn’t want them to have that option to fight force fed down their throats.

 

Tsubaki sits and he thinks. He wonders and wonders and doesn’t move until dawn.

 

\--

 

Mahiru Shirota shows up to class with a disgruntled looking cat on his shoulder the same day his subclass arrive, and everything falls apart.


	2. Chapter 2

Mahiru wakes up to someone playing games on his TV.

 

He squints, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. Someone had put a blanket over him in his sleep, a pillow underneath his head, and he thinks that maybe it was his uncle, but he can’t be sure. His uncle hasn’t been home in months, traveling around the world on business trips for his company, so he doesn’t know why he thinks that it was him.

 

His uncle doesn’t even like playing video games, and frankly neither does Mahiru. He only has this stuff for Sakuya and Koyuki. Koyuki rules with an iron fist and laughs maniacally when he wins. Ryuusei gives him this sappy look that always makes Sakuya and Mahiru wrinkle their nose.

 

“What…”

 

“Oh. You’re awake.” The man doesn’t so much as look away from the screen. “Twelve hours are up, so you have another twelve until I’m out of your life.”

 

Mahiru gapes at him, wraps the blanket more firmly around his shoulders. “Kuro?”

 

The man sighs, pauses the game, and turns back to him. “Yes?” he asks, slightly grouchy, and Mahiru bristles purely on principle. Kuro is the one who’s invading his household here!

 

“Just making sure,” he retorts loftily, and gets to his feet, looking around. Nothing seems to be out of place, he muses, and then startles as the words sink in. “Wait - twelve hours? I slept for  _ twelve hours?” _

 

“Yep.” Kuro yawns. “Not so unusual, even with me sharing my magic with you. You  _ had _ just summoned me. Your body needed to rest.”

 

“That - okay, that does make sense. But still, I don’t get what you meant by  _ twelve more hours until I’m out of your life.” _

 

“It means,” Kuro says, somewhat waspishly, “that I’m stuck with you until midnight tonight.”

 

“Wait - midnight, that means right now it’s soon which means -” Horror washes over him. “I’m late for school!”

 

“Yes, and?”

 

‘“Kuro!” Mahiru scrambles to his feet, into his room, and throws on his uniform. “I cannot be this late!”

 

Kuro, apparently, is horrible and Mahiru should never have summoned him because he simply shrugs. “I still don’t see the problem.” Of course he doesn’t. He’s a sibling and has never been to school. Mahiru refrains from saying that as he pulls his shoes out from under his bed.

 

“You,” Mahiru informs as he tugs them on, “are terrible.”

 

“And here I thought you were in awe of me,” Kuro replies sarcastically, eyes half lidded with what might be exhaustion or apathy. Mahiru isn’t sure, but if he had to take a guess he would say Kuro represented Sloth, so it may very well be lethargy.

 

“Not anymore.” Mahiru reaches the door and yanks it open, Kuro making a vague noise of protest as he’s jerked forward and Mahiru backward.

 

Mahiru stares at the ceiling for a long moment, Kuro groaning next to him. “What,” he says wonderingly, “was that.”

 

“That was the distance limit,” Kuro says, which doesn’t answer anything at all. “We can’t separate for more than a meter or two.”

 

“Well then.” Mahiru gets up again. “Guess you’re coming to high school.”

 

“Wait, no -”

 

Mahiru ignores him, grabs his hand, and rushes out the door. His cell phone is hanging out of his pocket, nearly falling onto the floor. Mahiru snatches it before it does, and taps the screen twice. His lock screen pops up and he puts his thumb on the home button for two seconds. His home screen appears as Kuro puffs into a cat, clinging onto his back with claws that  _ hurt,  _ holy crap.

 

“Ow!” Mahiru yelps as he staggers to a stop, and Kuro grumbles an apology as he climbs onto his shoulder. “Kuro! I have human skin!”

 

“I said I was sorry,” Kuro grouses in his ear, and Mahiru bats at him as he dials Koyuki.

 

“Still, it hurt - hey, Koyuki”

 

Judging silence. Then -

 

_ “Mahiru, why aren’t you at school?” _

 

“I - uh. Well, you see -”

 

Mahiru’s stumbling over his words, and he can  _ feel _ the look Kuro is giving him. “You’re really bad at lying,” Kuro tells him flatly, and Mahiru scowls at him.

 

“Shut up, I know that,” he mutters back, then forces a grin that Koyuki won’t see out of force of habit as they board the train. “Koyuki, I may or may not have almost died last night.”

 

_ “I’m well aware,” _ Koyuki replies dryly,  _ “since I was there and it was probably one of the most terrifying moments of my life.” _

 

“So I may or may not have slept twelve hours to replenish my magic.”

 

Koyuki is tellingly silent.  _ “You do realize,” _ his friend says carefully, and oh god Mahiru is going to get  _ lectured,  _ ugh,  _ “that the amount of magic you lost is not at all replenishable by twelve hours of sleep.” _

 

“Apparently it was?” Mahiru says weakly, and Koyuki snorts.

 

_ “Just get here by lunch,”  _ he orders, and Mahiru nods his head rapidly _. _

 

“You got it!” he says cheerfully, and hangs up. Then he groans, hanging his head. “I’m so going to get interrogated.”

 

Kuro, the bastard, snorts, and Mahiru resists the urge to swat him on the head.

 

“Shush,” he hisses, scowling. “I would like to see you do any better against a childhood friend who knows all of your secrets!”

 

“I wouldn’t know what that’s like,” Kuro replies snarkily, and gets into Mahiru’s bag, ending the conversation.

 

Mahiru sits and thinks that over as the train comes to a halt at a stop. He wouldn’t know what that’s like - that means he’s had no friends. No friends and only family that, as far as Mahiru can tell, he hasn’t spoken to for years.

 

Kuro did something. Nobody knows the pecking order of the siblings, the order from oldest to youngest, but if Mahiru had to take a guess Kuro wouldn’t be the oldest. It would probably be Wrath.

 

But something seems off about this. 

 

Mahiru just doesn’t know what.

 

He sits and he thinks and by the time the train reaches his stop, he hasn’t even come close to an answer.

  
  
  


\--

  
  


Mahiru shows up during lunch just like he said he would, out of breath and nearly out of time to eat. Their classmates give him odd looks when he runs through the halls, Ryuusei notices, especially when Kuro comes crawling out of his bag as a cat, but he resolutely ignores them.

 

He can not avoid Koyuki and Ryuusei, however, mainly because Koyuki refuses to let him. Koyuki on the warpath is terrifying, Ryuusei knows. He’s seen it.

 

“Mahiru,” Koyuki says, stopping by the desk with a smile that has a little too much teeth. Mahiru shudders. Koyuki smiling like that never indicates anything good. “Why do you have that cat?”

 

_ Why do you have him when he almost killed you,  _ goes unsaid, but from the wince Mahiru gives, he hears it loud and clear.

 

Ryuusei crosses his arms, leaning against his desk. “Is he your familiar?”   
  


“Yes!” Mahiru seizes the opportunity with both hands, the cat grumbling on his shoulder. “Yeah, I ended up bonding with him last night after he carried me home.”

 

“I’ve never heard of a demon being able to change forms before,” Ryuusei says, full of forced idleness. Mahiru sweats nervously; he’s never been able to hide anything from them. “Koyuki, have you?”

 

Koyuki shakes his head, eyeing the cat with interest. “No, I haven’t.”

 

Here’s the thing. Koyuki is probably the most threatening person in his entire school. The fae like to stay away from humans after all, and Ryuusei is really only dangerous on nights of the full moon. Sakuya doesn’t seem to have magic beyond that demon being attached to him, and Mahiru only has enough magic to help him do housework. So realistically Koyuki is the one who could beat all of them without breaking a sweat.

 

But he also knows a lot. He knows a lot of things about demons and magic because he’s a fae and his parents are magic researchers. He knows a lot, so when he says he hasn’t heard of something, that means something is up.

 

“Oh, really?” Mahiru runs a hand through his hair. “Uh, what an odd thing.”

 

“Yes, it is,” Ryuusei says, narrowing his eyes.

 

While Koyuki is able to kick all their asses, he’s reluctant to do so because he’s so kind. Ryuusei, on the other hand, is liable to hurt anyone who so much as looks at his friends wrong and pulls his friends out of the trouble they inevitably get themselves into.

 

Mahiru is close to breaking. Ryuusei can see it in the way his eyes flick around, in the way he fidgets. He leans forward, intent on getting an answer, when Sakuya slams the door to the classroom open, looking disheveled.

 

“Mahiru!” he gasps, darting behind him and bending down so he’s hidden. “Mahiru,  _ save me.” _

 

“I - Sakuya? Where’s your fox?” Mahiru asks, looking bewildered.

 

“He’s a fucking  _ traitor,” _ Sakuya hisses. “He let them into the school.”

 

“Let who in the school,” Ryuusei demands, sharing a glance with Koyuki. “Sakuya, are they dangerous?”

 

“Well, not exactly -”

 

“Hello!” shouts a voice, drawing the word out, and Sakuya groans. “Sakuya! Where are you?”

 

“He’s a fucking demon friend of Tsubaki,” Sakuya whispers. “He’s visiting and he loves to make fun of me.”

 

A man with long pink hair pokes his head in, eyes wide. “Sakuya,” he croons, and something  _ prickles _ at the base of Ryuusei’s spine. This man is dangerous, a threat, and Ryuusei can feel his nails sharpening. Koyuki, from the way mint fills Ryuusei’s nose, feels the same way.

 

“Fuck.” Sakuya crouches lower. “Do not let him see me, I just escaped.” His nails dig into Mahiru’s back, and Mahiru winces, his face saying that he’s two seconds away from flipping Sakuya on the floor, man be damned.

 

“Sakuya!” The man stomps his foot. “I know you’re in here!”

 

“Who are you?” Ryuusei asks as Sakuya inches towards the window, still keeping low to the ground.

 

The man’s smile grows wide.  _ “I,”  _ he says, putting a hand on his chest, “am Belkia! A magician! And you?”

 

“This is Ryuusei,” Koyuki says, placing one finger on his shoulder.  Energy rushes him, makes it easier to call upon that wild power that runs through him, and Ryuusei takes a breath, steadies himself. He can’t afford to do that.

 

Not yet anyway.

 

“I’m Koyuki.” And Koyuki, that  _ beautiful boy _ waves a hand vaguely towards their mutual childhood friend. “And this is Mahiru.”

 

Belkia bounces into the room just as Sakuya slips out of sight, and his teeth are too sharp, his eyes too bright. “Hey, hey! Want to see a magic trick?”

 

Ryuusei places himself slightly in front of his friends -  _ pack,  _ whispers the feral part of him, and he doesn’t even try to argue against him - and lowers his sense of gravity so he’s in a better position to lunge.

 

“Nope,” he says lightly, and the cat is on his feet on Mahiru’s lap, tail lashing behind him. Ryuusei has never really liked cats and he likes cat demons even less - a shame considering Koyuki adores them - but he thinks that this time he may get along with a cat. “‘Fraid not. We have stuff to do, like get ready for the next class.”

 

The tension between the three of them is thick enough to cut with a knife, and Ryuusei doesn’t know what will happen next as the man’s smile twitches.

 

“Are you sure?” Belkia presses, and even though their classmates are chattering away, Ryuusei feels as though everything is silent.

 

“I'm sure,” he confirms, and then Belkia is there, his teeth sinking into Ryuusei’s throat. Everyone is screaming, Koyuki is snarling, and Mahiru is staring blankly. Shock, Ryuusei’s brain provides helpfully, and he gasps as the fangs dig deeper into his skin.

 

_ “Ryuusei!” _

 

Koyuki flings a handful of magic towards Belkia - no words, no spell, just pure anger and an intent to  _ hurt.  _ Belkia dodges it neatly, and Ryuusei is getting dizzy as more blood gets sucked out of his neck. The magic slams into the wall, cracks it, then it crumbles into dust, leaving the sun shining down behind them.

 

“He ignored me!” Belkia shrieks as soon as he comes up for air, and that seems to jar Mahiru into action as his eyes search for a weapon as their classmates shriek and run out of the room. “I’ll kill anyone else who ignores me!”

 

Koyuki is damn near vibrating with fury, spell after spell flying from his fingertips, and for once Ryuusei sees the full flower of his anger. It's beautiful, if rather terrifying. His pupils are like a cat's, pinprick thin and his irises are dark enough for it to be mistaken for black. His nails are grown into daggers, his teeth sharp as a knife. And all the while through, magic is shimmering around him, the tree groaning outside as Koyuki tears it's life force out of it.

 

“Kuro,”  Mahiru barks as he finally finds a weapon, “make sure Koyuki’s covered.” He darts forward, grabs a thin piece of wood only a few feet away, and twirls it in his hand, eyes hard. The cat nods, running around in front of Koyuki, claws scraping gouges into the floor.

 

Belkia lets go of Ryuusei as he pulls three swords out of his hat, and Ryuusei thinks that is a bit of an overkill as he falls to the ground, his magic sparking around the wound. He thinks that it’s too late. His throat is torn out, too much blood taken. There’s no way he’s going to survive this. No way that he’s going to wake up tomorrow.

 

Koyuki lets out a low noise, rushing forward with magic native to the fae swirling around his fingers, and Ryuusei manages a smile as his vision fades at the edges.

 

If he was human, he would have passed out from the blood loss and the pain by now.

 

“Sorry,” he whispers past the blood welling up in his throat, and Koyuki snarls at him, placing a hand at his neck. He can feel his skin healing up but it doesn’t mean he’ll live past this. 

 

“You are  _ not dying on me,”  _ Koyuki growls, and slams his hands down on Ryuusei’s chest. Magic sparks, grows, lights up the area around them and sinks into Ryuusei’s skin, racing to his throat.

 

It isn’t enough. The wound closes but he’s lost too much blood, and Koyuki sobs as he bends over him, pleading with anyone who would listen to  _ help them,  _ **_please,_ ** _ I can’t lose him, I  _ **_can’t -_ **

 

Koyuki has always been a pillar of strength, of certainty. He’s breaking now, shattering into a million different pieces, and Ryuusei -

 

Ryuusei can't do anything. He can’t sit up and put an arm around Koyuki’s shoulders like he does when everything gets too much for him, can’t say that everything fine. Koyuki is fae with human parents and he has these - instincts that he hates. He’s always gone to Ryuusei when it gets too strong, too heavy, and this time Ryuusei can’t do anything. It  _ infuriates _ him.

 

“Sorry,” he repeats, hopeless and angry and everything in between, as everything fades to black. He isn’t even sure what he’s sorry about. Maybe not being enough? For dying? He doesn’t know.

 

He just knows that he’s sorry.

 

\--

 

Mahiru lands a lucky hit on Belkia the moment he swings. It’s because the demon didn’t expect it, he knows, but he still grins when it happens. Adrenaline is rushing through him, making him shaky, but Ryuusei is bleeding to death behind him, Koyuki trying his hardest to heal him, and he can’t just stand there and do nothing.

 

People always think that someone will come forward to help, that someone  _ else _ will do it, he knows. Nobody ever does until you step up. He knows that too, knows it with an ache in his bones and the burn of no one wanting him.

 

He’s always been that somebody. Koyuki tried his best, but he’s baring his teeth at the scepter of death that hangs over Ryuusei like a shroud, and now it’s his turn.

 

Mahiru grins in what’s more a snarl and drops to the ground to avoid a slash of silver. The wood clatters to the floor, Belkia raising his swords to stab him, and for a moment Mahiru feels his heart stop from pure  _ terror. _

 

A tug on his wrist, a hand catching him, and suddenly Mahiru is in Kuro’s arms.

 

“Thanks for the save,” he breathes, and Kuro rolls his eyes, setting him on the ground. “Can’t you do anything about him?”

 

“I could, but I'm not in a situation where I actually can,” Kuro replies, sounding frustrated with his own helplessness. It’s all in the minute tones.

 

Mahiru frowns, looks back. Belkia is staring at them with something like bloodlust in his eyes, and he shivers, moves closer to his friends. Koyuki’s pressing a hand to Ryuusei’s neck and Mahiru is powerless, unable to help. But he can help this.

 

“So what can I do to help with that?” he asks, and Kuro makes a noise of consideration.

 

“I mean - I could drink your blood but -”

 

Mahiru decides that’s all he needs to hear and shoves his wrist into Kuro’s mouth. The demon’s teeth slam down and Mahiru hisses out a breath at the agony from his wrist. But Kuro’s eyes are shining bright and his magic is unfolding, blooming, decaying, and all Mahiru can do it watch as a chain appears on his neck, beautiful and deadly.

 

“I was  _ going _ to say that it would seal my contract with you,” Kuro finishes bitterly, and there are glowing claws on his hands.

 

There’s a handcuff around Mahiru’s wrist that connects to Kuro, and Kuro is one of the most powerful creatures in existence.

 

“What happens now?” he pries, and Kuro rolls his shoulders, a presence around him that wasn’t there a moment before.

 

“Now?” he says quietly. “Now, I’m under your command.” He glances over his shoulder. His eyes burn scarlet, burn like fire. “Now  _ you _ tell me what to do.”

 

Mahiru swallows, his legs trembling underneath that gaze. He feels like he’s underneath a microscope, like he’s being laid open with his insides exposed. He doesn’t like it.

 

“I - “ he looks behind him, to Koyuki crying over the corpse of Ryuusei, and his resolve hardens. “I want you - I  _ order _ you to defeat him.”

 

Kuro chuckles, drawing his arms up high and swiping down. Wind explodes, blowing them back, and Kuro’s face is horribly blank. “I think,” Kuro says softly, almost too low to hear, “that you’ve been watching too much TV.”

 

Belkia’s face splits in a grin. “Sleepy Ash!” he says, delighted, and bounds forward. “I’ve been looking for you! Tsubaki so hates you, you know.”

 

“I don’t know a Tsubaki,” Kuro rumbles, and Belkia’s grin only grows.

 

“Nobody does!” he cheers, and takes a swipe. Kuro dances back, light on his feet, and lunges forward. His claws land home, encounter resistance, and then -

 

Flesh gives. Blood sprays.

 

And Belkia falls, gasping on blood. Mahiru stares, aghast, and Kuro crouches on the floor, licks up the drop of red that threatens to fall.

 

“Kuro..” His voice is weak, his throat raw. There’s crimson on the walls of his classroom, on his face, and his knees finally give out. The blood is sticky, tacky against his skin, and he bites his lip, tastes copper. “Kuro -”

 

Kuro stands, grabs Belkia’s hair and forces his head back. He opens his mouth and -

 

Mahiru grabs the chain, jerks it back with his entire weight. Kuro stops, drops Belkia as Mahiru hits his head on the floor. He turns to him, and Mahiru’s heart is in his throat. Kuro is dangerous, he knew, but -

 

He never expected it to be so evident. There’s blood on his lips, on his hands and jacket, and Mahiru feels  _ faint. _

 

“Yes?”

 

“He - he can’t move. It’s done. Stop.”

 

Kuro’s lip curls just as the Mahiru gives into the spots in his vision, to the exhaustion that weighs him down as the adrenaline leaves his system.

 

He falls, with Kuro’s arms curled around him, and - he’s never felt safer and more threatened. Kuro is strong, with muscles in his arms, with a presence around him that somehow pulls Mahiru closer and pushes anyone away.

 

There’s a flash of white behind Kuro’s back, and it’s the last thing Mahiru sees. He thinks, vaguely, a little floating as he closes his eyes, that Kuro looks like an angel with a halo around his head.

 

Kuro snorts. “You clearly took a few hits too many.”

 

Mahiru manages a smile as he turns into Kuro’s chest and everything fades away.

 

\--

 

“Tsubaki,” Sakuya snarls as he slams the door open to the abandoned classroom he  _ knows  _ the demon is in.

 

Tsubaki looks up from his book as he lounges on the windowsill. His leg is hanging off, toes grazing the floor, and the other is braced against the wall. The sun drifting in makes his hair shine, his eyes glow, and Sakuya’s breath is taken away because he looks like an angel, like the otherworldly creature he is. Something forbidden, he catches himself thinking, and purses his lips. Because Tsubaki  _ is  _ forbidden. He’s older than human time and will live long past Sakuya’s lifetime. He's forbidden, taboo, but sometimes Sakuya wishes that he wasn’t so. Wishes that Tsubaki was human, or Sakuya a demon, and that maybe it wouldn’t be off limits.

 

Here’s the thing. Tsubaki is unbearably beautiful, incomparably stunning, and Sakuya is uncomfortably aware of it. He’s known since he was a child and Tsubaki had knelt before him, offered a hand with a smile that he now knows was completely genuine. Sakuya is only a teenager, only a human, and maybe it’s looked down upon to be in a relationship with a demon, but Sakuya finds, more often than not, that he doesn’t care.

 

Now, with the sun turning his skin ivory and his eyes gentle, Sakuya thinks that he wouldn’t mind Tsubaki staying with him for the rest of his life, not if he looks at Sakuya like that.

 

“Yes?” Tsubaki says, folding the corner of the paper down, and Sakuya wrinkles his nose at the action, shaking away the leftover sappy and rose tinted thoughts.

 

“You know that you ruin all my books like that,” he complains, throwing himself into a chair and crossing his arms. “Stop freaking dog-earing them.”

 

“Never,” Tsubaki says cheerfully, slipping off the edge and floating over to him, his geta clicking on the floor. Sakuya doesn’t dare look at him when he settles against the desk, doesn’t look at him when the thoughts from not five minutes ago are fresh in his mind.

 

It’s something he’s kept hidden from Tsubaki for years now, after all, and it’s something he suspects that he’ll keep the demon in the dark about for the rest of his years. He just  _ knows  _ that Tsubaki would mock him, knows that he would lean in close so Sakuya would turn red, and laugh until he ran out of breath. And - maybe it’s stupid, but he thinks that he would rather die than be subjected to that ridicule.

 

“You suck,” he manages past the lump in his throat, and Tsubaki laughs lowly, tilts his head so his glasses are barely covering his eyes. His smile is sharp, teasing, and Sakuya can feel his face heat up. Dammit, Tsubaki is  _ melancholy,  _ not  _ lust.  _ He shouldn’t be this tempting.

 

Although, it may just be Sakuya.

 

“I’m well aware.” Tsubaki nudges Sakuya’s foot with his own. “So why did you come bursting in here all angry like?”

 

“You,” Sakuya retorts, feeling that indignation rising inside him, “need to stop sicking Belkia on me.”

 

It  _ always  _ happens. Every time the others visit, Belkia ends up chasing him around, and frankly Sakuya is sick of it. 

 

“Aw.” Tsubaki pouts, drawing the word out. “But it’s so funny to see!” And of course it would be. Tsubaki is gorgeous, absolutely dazzling, but he always has terrible humor when it’s directed towards Sakuya, since it’s at his expense then, which is something he is not a fan. Sakuya isn’t sure why he likes this man.

 

“I am not amused,” Sakuya tells him, distinctly unimpressed with his reasoning. “So stop.”

 

“I cannot control Belkia,” Tsubaki claims, and Sakuya scoffs, because that is a complete  _ lie. _

 

“You’re the only one he listens to,” Sakuya says, leaning back so the first two legs are off the floor. He crosses his arms behind his head, staring at the ceiling, and Tsubaki sighs and swings his legs, clearly deliberating something. 

 

“Sakuya, are you still upset about yesterday?” he asks after a moment, and Sakuya smiles softly, reaches out to touch Tsubaki’s hand lightly, feeling a little apologetic.

 

Tsubaki is - complicated. He’s touchy and prideful and snarly, but he’s also so, so loyal and self sacrificing. When he ended up in Sakuya’s life, he was so ready to throw his life away to fulfill that stupid,  _ stupid _ wish of his master’s. When he crashed into Sakuya’s life, he was on a one man trip to death, and it took Sakuya  _ years  _ to convince him that, maybe, he doesn’t need to.

 

Tsubaki’s head is all messed up. He’s depressed and thinks that lives don’t matter when they don’t matter to  _ him.  _ He’s admitted that his sensei’s will was what kept him going and what kept him from withering away those first few centuries before he found Higan nearly dead in the wreckage of a great fight; fifty against one and Higan had won. Before he built himself a family made from blood and rust and death, Tsubaki was alone for so long and nothing, not a single person, is meant to be alone.

 

“I’m not angry,” he says, soft and reassuring, and pokes Tsubaki in the stomach, quick as a viper. “And before you can ask,  _ yes,  _ I’m completely certain.”

 

His demon squirms away from the tickle assault, a giggle slipping out, and Sakuya laughs, lunging forward. Tsubaki yelps and turns into a fox, claws scraping against the floor as he runs away.

 

Well, now that won’t stand. Sakuya grins, following. Tsubaki sprints under desks, around chairs, tries to escape through the door by poofing into a human, but Sakuya is there, pins him against the wall. Sakuya has three inches on Tsubaki, looms over him when he puts his mind to it, and at the moment he’s leaning down, hands resting against the wall on either side of Tsubaki’s head, and his nose is centimeters away Tsubaki’s.

 

“I told you I wasn’t mad,” he says, slightly giddy, slightly exhilarated, and Tsubaki grins back, hands curling around Sakuya’s wrists.

 

“I never doubted you,” Tsubaki replies, and his eyes are half lidded, full of intent, and all of a sudden Sakuya realizes the situation they’re in. He’s trapped Tsubaki here, cornered him, and Tsubaki had  _ let him,  _ let this happen for a reason, and Tsubaki’s gaze focuses on Sakuya’s lips, and Sakuya can’t breathe. 

 

His hands flex into fists, his eyes flick down at Tsubaki’s lips, and he should step back, should laugh it off, but -

 

But Tsubaki is looking at him, his pupils blown wide, and then he’s leaning closer, their lips almost touching, and then Sakuya pulls away when the door open and Shamrock steps in, his suit immaculate as always.

 

“Young Master,” he calls as soon as he enters, and turns his head, blinking his eyes in shock when he sees them, sees Tsubaki entrapped, Sakuya’s red face, and Tsubaki’s venomous glare, puts two and two together, and turns red. With embarrassment or indignation, Sakuya doesn’t know, but he beats a hasty retreat anyways, takes several large strides backwards, hiding his face in his hands.

 

Tsubaki steps away from the wall, his haori ruffling around his ankles, and the look on his face is absolutely  _ deadly. _

 

“Shamrock,” he begins quietly, voice tight, and if Sakuya didn’t know any better, he would say that Tsubaki was angry that they were interrupted. “I do hope that you have a good explanation for barging in.”

 

“I - I do,” Shamrock sputters, avoiding eye contact, and Tsubaki rolls his eyes. For Shamrock, anything could be a good reason.

 

“Then go on and say it,” Sakuya manages, still resolutely ignoring Tsubaki, and Shamrock closes his eye. “Shamrock, come on. Don’t prolong this any longer than it has to be.”

 

“I - fine.” Shamrock clears his throat, stands straighter. “Belkia got captured.”

 

Silence. Absolute silence, and Sakuya raises his head, eyes wide. Tsubaki is frozen, his mouth open the tiniest bit. Shock, Sakuya thinks, and he can’t manage to shake the word off.

 

“..What?” Tsubaki says, dangerously quiet, and Sakuya takes an aborted step forward, hand curling uselessly in the air. He was going to take Tsubaki’s yukata in hand, pull the demon closer in comfort, but Tsubaki’s eyes are blazing with anger, with something close to grief, and Sakuya realizes that Belkia was one of Tsubaki’s support pillars, and now he’s -

 

Gone. He’s gone and Tsubaki doesn’t know what to do.

 

“...Who?”

 

The tone is filled with fury, but the word rings hollow, and Sakuya flinches at the sound of it.

 

“Sleepy Ash,” Shamrock says, bracing himself for the explosion, and Sakuya sucks in air sharply.

 

“Sleepy Ash,” Tsubaki breathes, and then begins to laugh and laugh and laugh, laughs until he’s gasping for breath, until tears are springing to life in the corner of his eyes and he still can’t stop  _ laughing. _

 

Sakuya hasn’t felt this helpless, felt this hopeless since his sister said  _ for Sakuya _ and stepped off their balcony. He hasn’t heard this kind of laugh in ages, in years. He hasn’t heard it since his sister’s death, and he bares his teeth at the floor, enraged and distraught. Belkia may be a nuisance, but he’s part of this odd, dysfunctional family Tsubaki built, that Sakuya is a part of. He’s that annoying older brother, the one who pranks and teases but always,  _ always _ means well.

 

And - he’s gone. Taken by Sleepy Ash, by the demon Mahiru summoned.

 

Sakuya stops. Mahiru. Does - is he involved in this? Sakuya hopes -  _ prays  _ that he isn’t. Mahiru is his best friend, even if he doesn’t know about this side of Sakuya’s life.

 

Did he fight Belkia, Sakuya wonders as he slides to the floor, thumping his head against the wall and pulling his legs to his chest. Did he have a hand in Belkia’s capture? Did - did he  _ hurt _ him?

 

God, Sakuya hopes not. Belkia is well meaning, if a bit unhinged, but - Sakuya also knows just how  _ dangerous _ his family is. They’re demons, the trusted confidants of the unknown sibling, and they’re  _ powerful. _ Powerful enough that with some planning they could take down All of Love, maybe even World End on their own.

 

Still.

 

Sakuya buries his face in his knees. He’s only fifteen, is the thing. He’s fifteen and he’s seen his sister sacrifice herself for  _ his _ safety. He’s grown up in the company of demons, has had magic shared with him more time than he can count. He could probably summon Tsubaki if he wanted to.

 

He’s fifteen and his family has been captured.

 

Tsubaki’s laughter stops, cuts out. The sound of it rings in Sakuya’s ears; heartbreaking and less than sane, and then the noise of Tsubaki’s geta clacking on the floor reaches him. By the time he glances up, Tsubaki is crouched in front of him, his smile sad.

 

“Don’t worry,” he says, and - it’s soft. It’s soft and reassuring and Sakuya latches onto it like it’s a lifeline. Tsubaki reaches out to tug on Sakuya’s curl, the way his sister used to, and the nostalgia hits him like a freight train. Once upon a time, it was his sister in this exact same position.

 

“I’ll take care of everything,” Tsubaki promises, and that’s when Sakuya breaks.

 

The tears he’s been holding back burst free, and he falls forward into Tsubaki’s embrace.

 

Belkia is gone - taken - but when Tsubaki promises something, he  _ means it. _

 

So Belkia is coming home.

 

Sakuya manages a trembling smile as Tsubaki rests a hand on the back of his head, running a hand through green curls.

 

“Okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> A few explanations.
> 
> -Magic is life force. So, naturally, the older you are the less magic you have. The more sickly you are the less magic you have. The reason Tetsu has so much magic is because he's so physically fit.
> 
> -Only demons can share magic. It's a way of saving humans when they use too much of it. They're inclined to help that family for as long as they are there, but the demon is not required to.
> 
> -Once a demon shares their magic with someone, themselves and their descendants naturally have more magic than others as a result. For example, Misono has as much magic as Tetsu because Lily has been with his family for generations and has shared his magic with each eve, including him.
> 
> -Only a sibling's contractor can have a Lead. Any other demon tries and they will die because they don't have enough magic.
> 
> -Tsubaki escaped the castle the same day Kuro killed Sensei.
> 
> -Familiars are common.
> 
> -Everyone has magic, but not everyone can access it. People typically access it when they're around two.
> 
> -Keeping a demon in the human plane does not require a continuous stream of magic - only the initial summoning requires it.
> 
>  
> 
> \------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
>  
> 
> Comments are always loved and brighten up my day and are saved in my Gmail.
> 
> Here's my [Tumblr.](http://nikescaret.tumblr.com) Come visit and chat with me if you want!
> 
> (My discord is NikeScarlet#8096 if you wish to talk to me there)


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